


10,000 Steps/360 View

by Kakushigo



Category: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: F/F, Gen, M/M, Mirror Universe, Multiple Universes, Q Shenanigans, but only those three have 'screen time', most of the crew does appear
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-17
Updated: 2016-08-17
Packaged: 2018-08-09 07:55:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7793290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kakushigo/pseuds/Kakushigo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Q already knows Riker won't chose to become a Q.  It's a shame, since often that's the first step to getting Picard to become a Q.  But every universe has it's own challenges and Q will win.  So begins the education of Riker- this is how deeply a Q can love and live.  Across every universe, every multiverse available.  Q shows his devotion to Riker because he can't yet show it to Picard.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hide and Q

**Author's Note:**

> This is sorta set during "Hide and Q" except there's a couple minutes of the crew being on the planet that's just...missing. Q takes Riker down to the planet, then the rest of the crew teleports down instead. (Q can do a lot in a minute.)
> 
> Also, I ran out of time. So this is not all the universes I had planned to have them visit. That being said, there will probably be a sequel where Q actually shows this to Picard. I'm thinking something set during "Tapestry."

The Captain had said that Q was usually interested in Riker, had been ever since the Farpoint mission, but sitting here with the Q, Riker finds the opposite to be true.  Oh, certainly, he'd been whisked away and given the powers of the Q instead of Picard, but so far Q hadn't done anything to convince him to actually join the Q besides giving him the power.   Instead, he'd been brought to an utterly deserted desert planet to spend time with Q.  It was not the best of arguments.

"And of course, I have promise that I will stay out of humanity's way, should you chose to refuse the Q."  Q finished his explanation of the game.  "But I doubt that even if it comes to that, that your Captain will call on me in time of need."  Oh, it'd take a lot- perhaps mass casualties for this Picard, but it would happen.

“Why are you so insistent that the Captain will?”  Riker asked, curious despite himself.  Q had managed to mention Picard no less then seven times in his spiel for the benefits of becoming a Q.  

“My dear Riker, I have beheld universe after universe."  Q answers expansively.  "All of them are better for Picard knowing me."  Riker hadn't said anything about Q knowing Picard, but kept his silence.  Perhaps Q was going somewhere with this.  "Who am I to deny such things?”

It was a change in topic, but Riker went along with it. “In all these universes, is Picard who he is today?"  He cannot imagine a world where his Captain and this Q are anything more then antagonists for each other.  "And why didn’t you ask him to join the Q, if you have such an immutable destiny together?”  It might have spared Riker the knowledge that he was the balance between Q's continued antagonism of the Enterprise and not.

“Oh, h’ed never agree to it."  Q shrugs, as if everyone should know that. "That’s is a constant.  In some worlds, he goes as far as to marry me, yet always refuses my simple request to join me.  He had something against the idea of immortality, too.”  Q thinks it’s so terribly unfortunate.  “In worlds where is a Q, usually I or another tricks him into godhood.”

“Is this not another trick?”  Riker asks, gesturing around their opulent surroundings.

Q laughs, snapping his fingers.  A tall glass appears in Riker’s hand.  “This is all quite different from how one might persuade Picard.”  But if Riker agreed to be a Q, Picard would become one to save Riker.  Picard was predictable in the respect, he’d go to such great lengths for his crew and his friend.

Riker takes a sip of the drink.  “This is good.  Tastes a bit like Earth lemonade.”

“You gave it its taste.”  Q explains.  "Such is your power."

Riker shrugs at the uncomfortable thought and takes another sip.  “While we wait for my crew, tell me of these others- these other Picards and Q’s.”

“Oh,”  Q replies, eyes gleaming.  “I can do better than that, dear Riker, I can show you.”  Suddenly, the pavilion and the desert were gone.  They were back on the Enterprise.  But something about her lines struck Riker as wrong- they were different, sleeker almost.

“The Enterprise?”  He asks.

Q nods.  “But one a little different than the one you know.  Watch, here comes the Captain.”  Indeed, Picard rounds the corner,  He doesn’t seem all that different from the Picard that Riker knows, except he is involved in an animate discussion with Q, all in French.  Suddenly, there’s two children’s shrieks of happiness as they dart down the corridor and leap at Q.  Riker jumps out of their way, but it's quite fast enough and they dart through him.  Laughing, the Q talking to Picard scoops them up, letting them wiggle and whine in his arms as young children tend to do.  Once they’ve calmed down, Q gives them a little kiss on the forehead and puts them back on the ground.  One clings to each of his hands.  

Teasingly, that Q glances at Picard.  “Children, would you like a good morning kiss from El Capitan as well?”  

“Yes!”  They shout, giggling.  Picard gives Q a long suffering look but does indulgently ruffle the boy’s hair.  

The girl lets go of Q’s hand, putting his hands on her hips.  “And what about me, Captain?”

“If I must.” Her hair also gets ruffled and she giggles.  It is the calmest Riker has ever seen Picard around children, even though he seems mostly content to let Q handle them.

“You have kids?”  Riker asks.  “And why can’t they see or feel us?”  It's disconcerting to be run through, even if it doesn't feel like anything.

“First question: Not normally.  But this version of myself denounced the Continuum and became human.  The children lost their birth parents and my human self adopted them.”  Q has children in nearly every universe, but usually much later and they’re Q instead of human.  “And they can’t see us because I don’t want them too.”  This Q is soft, something Q hopes never to become.  It's inconvenient to have such attachments.

“And you’re..."  Riker thinks of a diplomatic way to say what Q has implied, "involved with Picard how?”

Q is amused by the suggestion, but does explain. “We’re dear friends to one another," he gestures to the alternates, who have fallen back to their discussion, children walking peaceably beside Q, "though there’s always a chance of it becoming more.  I led this Enterprise crew through uncharted space, I took in his shipmates’ children, and I speak French.”  Technically, he spoke much more the French, but Picard was uniquely interested in his heritage.

“Bet that makes you a hit at parties.”  Riker comments, aiming for sarcasm.

Q's attention isn't on Riker though, he's watching the other group, listening in.  “Not much of a party goer, at least here.  Being a father does that to you.”

Since his last barb failed to get a rise from the entity, Riker asks a frank question.  “Why is Picard so calm around the children?”  He's certainly not this good with Wesley.  

“Prolonged exposure.”  Q answers with a chuckle.  "And from a much younger age.  Also, he's the little girl's godfather, so he had to learn sometime."  Q had looked into the past and the future of this particular universe- Picard had been handed the child a few days after she'd been born.  He'd been terrified, but carried the little one to safety anyways.  Plus, when they were that young they were easier to deal with.  He hadn't quite realized either of them had ever grown up.

"Okay, so you happen to be his friend in one universe, what's that mean?  There must be billions of others if there's this one."  And Riker is willing to bet they aren't so domestic.  Neither Q or Picard seem like the domestic type.

Q grins in delight.  "I am ever so glad you asked, my dear Riker.  Let me show you."  And they're whisked away again.  Riker only know because the scenery changes, there's no other sign.  It is disorientating to a very large degree.


	2. Q Stands for Quality

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is an Academy AU with girls. Because everything is better with ladies.

Riker recognizes the next place very well.  "This is the Academy."  He'd expected another Enterprise, not this.  Perhaps Picard had taken that position as President of the Academy, but they were in the wrong area for that.  This was the student dorms, which wasn't a logical place to put them in if Picard was President.  Besides, he couldn't see how Q wraps into all that.  

"Student dorms?"  Riker asked Q.

Q nodded, bounding off towards one of the dorms.  "Come on, want to see another version of us?  This one'll surprise you."  Q slips through a door like it's nothing and after a second, Riker braces himself and steps through.   He hesitantly looks around, grateful to see everyone is fully clothed.  Neither of the girls in the dorm are familiar to him, but they're both sitting on the same bed, pieces of a model ship around them.  The one with a mess brown hair has half of the pieces in her lap and she's glaring at her companion.

"Come on, Quiz," she complains, "I really don't want to do this."

Quiz wasn't moved by her complaining.  "You're going to need this to become the best Captain in the 'Fleet, Yvonne.  I could do it in five minutes, you're gonna have to break my record.  This cis the Enterprise.  

"It's not even correct model size."

"It has all the important parts,"  Quiz replies, unimpressed.  "And if you want to be the best, you have to study the greats.  Everything they did right, everything they did wrong.  Their ships, their habits.  Whatever makes them who they are."  Then she smirks, "Plus, Professor Ty'Ro is a stickler for a details.  They'll probably make you draw the schematics for the original Enterprise."  A bit of an overstatement, but not that much of it.  

Riker looks between the two girls confused, then looks to Q.  "Is that you and the Captain?"  It's hard to believe that's either of them, especially since they're so young.  And Q isn't anything like Q at all, if this 'Quiz' is indeed Q.  

"Of a sort."  Q replies, leaning against a wall and watching them.  "In this universe, my parents abandon the Continuum and raised me as a human.  I befriended the young Yvonne Picard, who, as you mentioned- is indeed your Captain.  She will later become Captain of the Enterprise with her science officer Quizzical "Quiz" Malicom at her side.  She'll be Picard's Number One most of her life."   And nearly die for her Captain quite a few times before she comes into her heritage as a Q.

Riker looks over them, trying to imagine this future and failing.  Not because these two aren't brilliant, because they obviously are if they're in StarFleet so young, but the idea of human Q's...it's rather insane.  

"I really don't think this'll be on the test,"  Yvonne grumbles, breaking Riker out of his revere, but her fingers are nimble on the model, building it quickly and correctly. "The Prof is a hardass but not that much of one.”

“This isn’t all we’re doing.”  Quiz replies.  “You’ll be naming all important decks, possibly a couple important rooms on certain decks.”  Yvonne groans while Quiz grins.  "Plus, if I have to listen to a Captain- it better be the best Captain StarFleet can create."

Yvonne sighs, “This isn’t just about the class is it?”

“It’s never just about the class.” Quiz agrees.  “You don’t see me quizzing you about Earth History you?””

“That’s because you never had any interest in Earth history, just like your mother.”  Yvonne points out.  "You don't really care about anything pre-Federation and even then you care more about the vast points of it, not what's here.  And you care nothing of the French."   She says the last point like it's a personal offence. 

“There's more to the universe the Earth.”  Quiz says dismissively.  “We can do history of the Federation if you insist.”  Her grin shows exactly how hard she'd press Yvonne if that did become what they were doing.

Yvonne finishes the ship and groans again.  “No more, my mind can’t take anymore.”

“Thirty seconds faster than me?”  Quiz comments.  “Decent.  But I know you can do better?”

Yvonne gives her friend a half hearted glare.  “Why am I friends with you again?”

Quiz laughs, “Because I can keep up with you and challenge you.  Also, I’m your book supplier. Where else would you get your fix?”

“True enough,”  Yvonne grumbles.  But then she gets a mischievous look in her eye and sets the model ship down to the side.

Quiz notices her movements and eyes her friend with trepidation, “Don’t do anything stupid now, Yvonne.”

“Never.”  Yvonne replies teasingly, before launching herself at Quiz and knocking them both over onto the bed.  It quickly devolves into a tussle

The girls playfully tussle while Riker turns to Q.  “I think this is the most carefree I’ve ever seen him.”  Well, it’s not him, but even as a female Riker can’t imagine Picard to be all that different.

"They're still children,"  Q explains, "by pretty much any standard.  And both of them will graduate youngest in their class- and near the top of it."

"Only near the top?"

"The little incident with the teleporter made them have to retake a few classes."  Q explains.  "But they'll end up on the Enterprise.  A little earlier then your Picard even."  And everything was damn near perfect, up until the mission to Far Point.  But Far Point always changed their dynamic, no matter what universe.  "Want to watch them a while more, or ready for more?"

Riker spares the two of them one last look, "I'm ready to go one."  Q grins, and they're off to another universe.


	3. Q stands for Quagmire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Maximilian Affair, The Franco-Mexican war. There's many names for this war. They were on opposite sides and it cost them everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently AO3 just doesn't like me right now. I thought I'd posted all of this, but nope- only the first couple chapters made it up. ;-; Fixing now.

This next place, Riker doesn't immediately recognize, though he does recognize the Captain.  That, he realizes after a second, is all he can truly recognize.  Everything else is either completely foreign or the vaguest bit familiar.  Even the words the Captain speaks are foreign to him, though they have the same sound as some of the French that Picard speaks, so Riker assumes that's what it is.

“I don't recognize these uniforms," Riker admits, "where’s this?”

Q offers Riker a smile, “More like when is this, my dear Riker.  And the answer is 1862.  The where, if you truly want specifics is Earth, in a country once called Mexico.  This is the second war between France and Mexico.  This city is called Campeche and they have just surrendered to the French General Picard.”  He nods towards Picard, who is talking to his men in rapid French, ordering them to clear Campeche of those who might cause issues.

The title is a surprise, it's so archaic.  “General Picard?”

“Oh, yes."  Q grins, amused by how much this knowledge upsets Riker.  "And he’s quite a good one, if I must say so.”

“And where are you in all this mess?"  Riker knows he's being shown the interactions of Q and Picard, and there is Picard.

They're suddenly in a bar.  It's bleak all around and the men drinking all wear tatters, many look severely injured.  Q isn't at all interested in them, even as he settles down on a bar stool next to one of them.  “Quetzalcoatl is drowning his sorrows.”  He explains.  The name is one of the better ones, Q thinks.  Not quite his favorite, but it's certainly up there.

“I’m sorry- what?”

“In this world, Q as I am, doesn’t exist."  He explains.  Riker isn't even a hundred years old, of course he needs much explained to him.  "But you’ll understand when you meet Quetzalcoatl.”  He gestures to the man next to him.

Riker gives the man a second look, but doesn't see it.  There's barely a family resemblance.  “He doesn’t look anything like you.  And why is he here?”  Oh, sure, Q had said he was drowning his sorrows, but that could mean a great many things.

Q finds explaining things to Riker tedious, it's time to teach him a thing or two about being a Q.  He leans forward, balance his chin on his hand.  “Think.  You’ve got the entire universe and then some knocking around in your head.  Use it."  Oh, it might take Riekr a few minutes, but Q has been pleasantly surprised by this man before.

Riker's eyes are far away, Q finds this fascinating.  He's never seen a human access the Continuum before.  “The Q don’t exist here.”  Riker eventually says, and his eyes clear like he's come back from himself.

“Bingo.”  Right in one, looks like Riker was a natural for all he was human.

But Riker isn't done, and he sounds horrified with what he reveals next.  “There’s nothing for us to find when we eventually hit the stars.”

“I wouldn’t say nothing-”  Riker cuts him off before Q can finalize the sentence.

“Nothing sentient.  No Vulcans, no Klingons, no Q.  StarFleet will never exist, it won’t need to.”  He's terrified of this knowledge- and terribly glad he didn't know this in other universes.  What might he have seen there?

Q nods, he'd know this already.  But for all the emptiness of space, Earth is teaming with life.  They take better care of their planet then most, but mentioning that would bring them off topic, so Q just points to the alternate version.  “And dear Quetzalcoatl here?”

“He’s a could of been.  For you."  The concept isn't clear in Riker's mind, despite the fact he has the powers of the Q.  He's pretty sure it's such a concept that is impossible for an entity that isn't a Q to grasp.  He understands that Quetzalcoatl is both Q, yet is not  Q.  Then he digs deeper into Quetzalcoatl's past, absorbing information about the man, he pauses when he stumbles across Quetzalcoatl's career.  "Dear lord, you’re leading opposing armies.”  General Quetzalcoatl, loyal to Mexican United States and not the old royal line.

“I said we were better together."  Q confirms, smirking.  "Watch how terrible we are apart.”

“Quetzalcoatl doesn’t live through the war.”  Riker doesn't like Q, but Quetzalcoatl isn't Q, he's his own man.  And Quetzalcoatl has a family: a mother, a father, a sister, three brothers, nieces, and nephews.  Riker sees them in mourning for this man and he too mourns.  This isn't someone who plays with life for fun, he's a mortal through and through.

“Neither of them really do."  Q admits.  They feel nothing for the loss of either of them, it's not their world.  "General Picard knew exactly what he was doing, ordering for Quetzalcoatl to be beheaded.”

The casual lilt of Q's sentence makes Riker mad.  The entity doesn't understand, “He’s going to become Picard’s prisoner of war.”

“And you’re picking up the same habits all Picard’s men did when they referred to Quetzalcoatl.”

Understanding dawns on Riker and he's not sure if he's proud or horrified of his Captain's alternate self.  “As Picard’s prisoner.  They became friends.”

“As much as two men can ever be friends.”  Riker glares at Q for the comment, but Q just gives him a serene (or maniacal, Riker always finds it hard to tell with Q) smile back.  “They’ll call him the god killer, you know.  General Jean Luc Picard, Killer of Gods.  Quite the title, isn't it?"  Ah, if only Picard hadn't minded the title so much, it might have served him better.

Riker has a question about that, but he's not sure he wants to know the answer.  “And what does he think of himself?”

"What does your Picard think of killing?"  Riker is telling silent- that wasn't the answer he wanted, but it was the one he expected.  "Exactly.  Like I said, neither of them really live through the war, though General Picard is hailed as a returning hero despite the fact the French do eventually lose."

 "And Quetzalcoatl?"

"Lost to history."  Q admits.  That rather smarts, to be honest.  It might not be Q, but it's a could have been and the world just forgets him because he's dead.  "A bit of a Mexican hero for a while though.  He saves a lot of lives by turning himself over to Picard's tender care."

Riker spares one last look for Quetzalcoatl.  "We should leave."  He can already see how this history will play out- he has no wish to witness it again.  Seeing Quetzalcoatl beheaded once is quite enough.

Q shrugs, "So you wish, so shall it be."  


End file.
